This book is concerned with the relationship between a modern philosophical idea and an ancient historical moment. It explores how the notion of pluralism, made famous by Isaiah Berlin, may be seen ...
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This book is concerned with the relationship between a modern philosophical idea and an ancient historical moment. It explores how the notion of pluralism, made famous by Isaiah Berlin, may be seen to feature in the Classical Greek world and, more specifically, in the thought of three of its most prominent figures: Protagoras, Herodotus, and Sophocles. The book falls into three parts, each of which considers one of these authors in detail and investigates how the core aspects of pluralism — diversity, conflict, and incommensurability — manifest themselves in a particular literary arena. Part One illustrates, through an analysis of two of his fragments and the portrait of him from Plato's Protagoras, that the sophist Protagoras held that perspectives on truth and value could be plural, while retaining a degree of objectivity that distinguishes his position from relativism. Part Two turns attention towards the ways in which historical writing can be understood in pluralist terms. It portrays Thucydides as an exemplar of a monistic historical style in deliberate contrast to Herodotus. It then examines how ideas of diversity and conflict figure in Herodotus' Histories in a variety of methodological and moral contexts. Part Three focuses on conflict in Sophocles. It argues that pluralist messages emerge from four of his tragedies, in which a certain kind of hero and a certain kind of ethical disagreement are present. These features of Ajax, Antigone, Electra, and Philoctetes are related to the Homeric moral patterns from which their meaning in large part derives. The overall aim of the book is to identify a pluralist temper of thought in the age of Sophocles and, in doing so, to offer an enriched understanding of this crucial intellectual period.Less

The Advent of Pluralism : Diversity and Conflict in the Age of Sophocles

Lauren J. Apfel

Published in print: 2011-04-01

This book is concerned with the relationship between a modern philosophical idea and an ancient historical moment. It explores how the notion of pluralism, made famous by Isaiah Berlin, may be seen to feature in the Classical Greek world and, more specifically, in the thought of three of its most prominent figures: Protagoras, Herodotus, and Sophocles. The book falls into three parts, each of which considers one of these authors in detail and investigates how the core aspects of pluralism — diversity, conflict, and incommensurability — manifest themselves in a particular literary arena. Part One illustrates, through an analysis of two of his fragments and the portrait of him from Plato's Protagoras, that the sophist Protagoras held that perspectives on truth and value could be plural, while retaining a degree of objectivity that distinguishes his position from relativism. Part Two turns attention towards the ways in which historical writing can be understood in pluralist terms. It portrays Thucydides as an exemplar of a monistic historical style in deliberate contrast to Herodotus. It then examines how ideas of diversity and conflict figure in Herodotus' Histories in a variety of methodological and moral contexts. Part Three focuses on conflict in Sophocles. It argues that pluralist messages emerge from four of his tragedies, in which a certain kind of hero and a certain kind of ethical disagreement are present. These features of Ajax, Antigone, Electra, and Philoctetes are related to the Homeric moral patterns from which their meaning in large part derives. The overall aim of the book is to identify a pluralist temper of thought in the age of Sophocles and, in doing so, to offer an enriched understanding of this crucial intellectual period.

Proclus (AD 412–85) was one of the last official ‘successors’ of Plato at the head of the Academy in Athens at the end of antiquity, before the school was finally closed down in 529. As a prolific ...
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Proclus (AD 412–85) was one of the last official ‘successors’ of Plato at the head of the Academy in Athens at the end of antiquity, before the school was finally closed down in 529. As a prolific author of systematic works on a wide range of topics and one of the most influential commentators on Plato of all times, the legacy of Proclus in the cultural history of the west can hardly be overestimated. This book introduces the reader to Proclus’ life and works, his place in the Platonic tradition of antiquity, and the influence his work exerted in later ages. Various chapters are devoted to Proclus’ metaphysical system, including his doctrines about the first principle of all reality, the One, and about the Forms and the soul. The broad range of Proclus’ thought is further illustrated by highlighting his contribution to philosophy of nature, scientific theory, theory of knowledge, and philosophy of language. Finally, also his most original doctrines on evil and providence, his Neoplatonic virtue ethics, his complex views on theology and religious practice, and his metaphysical aesthetics receive separate treatments.Less

All From One : A Guide to Proclus

Published in print: 2016-12-01

Proclus (AD 412–85) was one of the last official ‘successors’ of Plato at the head of the Academy in Athens at the end of antiquity, before the school was finally closed down in 529. As a prolific author of systematic works on a wide range of topics and one of the most influential commentators on Plato of all times, the legacy of Proclus in the cultural history of the west can hardly be overestimated. This book introduces the reader to Proclus’ life and works, his place in the Platonic tradition of antiquity, and the influence his work exerted in later ages. Various chapters are devoted to Proclus’ metaphysical system, including his doctrines about the first principle of all reality, the One, and about the Forms and the soul. The broad range of Proclus’ thought is further illustrated by highlighting his contribution to philosophy of nature, scientific theory, theory of knowledge, and philosophy of language. Finally, also his most original doctrines on evil and providence, his Neoplatonic virtue ethics, his complex views on theology and religious practice, and his metaphysical aesthetics receive separate treatments.

This book is a study of a Hellenistic didactic poem, the Phaenomena, written by Aratus in c.276 BC, and of its reception, primarily in the Roman period up to the fourth century AD. Aratus’ poem about ...
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This book is a study of a Hellenistic didactic poem, the Phaenomena, written by Aratus in c.276 BC, and of its reception, primarily in the Roman period up to the fourth century AD. Aratus’ poem about the stars and weather-signs immediately acquired a popularity baffling to the modern reader; it was translated into Latin many times between the first century BC and the Renaissance, and carried lasting influence outside its immediate genre. This book answers the question of Aratus’ popularity by looking at the poem in the light of Western cosmology. It argues that the Phaenomena is the ideal vehicle for the integration of astronomical ‘data’ into abstract cosmology, a defining feature of the Western tradition. This book embeds Aratus’ text into a close network of textual interactions, beginning with the text itself and ending in the sixteenth century, with Copernicus. All conversations between the text and its successors experiment in some way with the balance between cosmology and information. The text was not an inert objet d’art, but a dynamic entity which took on colours often conflictual in the ongoing debate about the place and role of the stars in the world. In this debate Aratus plays a leading, but by no means lonely, role. Many texts which have not been considered as part of the repertoire of Aratean studies are also present, with Aratus himself as the harmonizing force between texts and concepts often disparate, even at odds.Less

Aratus and the Astronomical Tradition

Emma Gee

Published in print: 2013-10-08

This book is a study of a Hellenistic didactic poem, the Phaenomena, written by Aratus in c.276 BC, and of its reception, primarily in the Roman period up to the fourth century AD. Aratus’ poem about the stars and weather-signs immediately acquired a popularity baffling to the modern reader; it was translated into Latin many times between the first century BC and the Renaissance, and carried lasting influence outside its immediate genre. This book answers the question of Aratus’ popularity by looking at the poem in the light of Western cosmology. It argues that the Phaenomena is the ideal vehicle for the integration of astronomical ‘data’ into abstract cosmology, a defining feature of the Western tradition. This book embeds Aratus’ text into a close network of textual interactions, beginning with the text itself and ending in the sixteenth century, with Copernicus. All conversations between the text and its successors experiment in some way with the balance between cosmology and information. The text was not an inert objet d’art, but a dynamic entity which took on colours often conflictual in the ongoing debate about the place and role of the stars in the world. In this debate Aratus plays a leading, but by no means lonely, role. Many texts which have not been considered as part of the repertoire of Aratean studies are also present, with Aratus himself as the harmonizing force between texts and concepts often disparate, even at odds.

This book studies Aristotle’s poetic activity in light of an ode he composed commemorating Hermias of Atarneus, his father in law and patron in the 340’s BCE. This remarkable text is said to have ...
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This book studies Aristotle’s poetic activity in light of an ode he composed commemorating Hermias of Atarneus, his father in law and patron in the 340’s BCE. This remarkable text is said to have later embroiled the philosopher in charges of impiety and so is studied both from a literary perspective and as a window onto the poetic practices of the later fourth century. Aristotle’s literary antecedents are studied with an unprecedented fullness that considers the entire range of the literary tradition, including poems by Sappho, Pindar, and Sophocles, and prose texts as well. Particular attention is paid to understanding the ancient report that political opponents of Aristotle charged him with impiety on the grounds that his song was actually a hymn to Hermias that implied the latter had become a god. Aristotle’s song affords a case study in how Greek poetic texts functioned as performance pieces and how they were recorded, circulated, and preserved. The book argues that Greek lyric poems profit from being read as scripts for performances that both shaped and were shaped by the social occasions in which they were performed. Studying the lyric in light of the history of its interpretation leads to a more fine-tuned appreciation for its literary dynamics and provides a window onto the literary culture of the late classical age.Less

Aristotle as Poet : The Song for Hermias and Its Contexts

Andrew L. Ford

Published in print: 2011-04-25

This book studies Aristotle’s poetic activity in light of an ode he composed commemorating Hermias of Atarneus, his father in law and patron in the 340’s BCE. This remarkable text is said to have later embroiled the philosopher in charges of impiety and so is studied both from a literary perspective and as a window onto the poetic practices of the later fourth century. Aristotle’s literary antecedents are studied with an unprecedented fullness that considers the entire range of the literary tradition, including poems by Sappho, Pindar, and Sophocles, and prose texts as well. Particular attention is paid to understanding the ancient report that political opponents of Aristotle charged him with impiety on the grounds that his song was actually a hymn to Hermias that implied the latter had become a god. Aristotle’s song affords a case study in how Greek poetic texts functioned as performance pieces and how they were recorded, circulated, and preserved. The book argues that Greek lyric poems profit from being read as scripts for performances that both shaped and were shaped by the social occasions in which they were performed. Studying the lyric in light of the history of its interpretation leads to a more fine-tuned appreciation for its literary dynamics and provides a window onto the literary culture of the late classical age.

This book presents a reassessment of Aelius Aristides’ Hieroi Logoi, a unique first-person narrative from the ancient world. While scholars have embraced the Logoi as a rich source for Imperial-era ...
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This book presents a reassessment of Aelius Aristides’ Hieroi Logoi, a unique first-person narrative from the ancient world. While scholars have embraced the Logoi as a rich source for Imperial-era religion, politics and elite culture, the style of the text has presented a persistent stumbling block to literary analysis. Setting this dream-memoir of illness and divine healing in the context of Aristides’ professional concerns as an orator, this book investigates the text’s rhetorical aims and literary aspirations. The book begins from the proposition that understanding the Hieroi Logoi requires grappling with Aristides’ deliberate conjunction of rhetoric and the sacred, and five chapters offer new perspectives on unresolved questions, including the problem of the text’s artistic unity, the unique texture of Aristides’ dream descriptions, the professional claims of his curative performances, and the place of the Hieroi Logoi amid his literary concerns. Reading the Logoi in the context of contemporary oratorical practices, in dialogue with contemporary technical writings on the interpretation of dreams, and in tandem with Aristides’ own polemical orations and prose hymns makes it possible to discern his professional agenda in this unusual, experimental self-portrait. In this multi-layered and open text, the book argues, Aristides works at the limits of rhetorical convention to fashion an authorial voice that is transparent to the divine. In the HL, Aristides claims a place in the world of the Second Sophistic on his own terms, offering a vision of his professional inspiration in a style that pushes the limits of literary convention.Less

At the Limits of Art : A Literary Study of Aelius Aristides’ Hieroi Logoi

Janet Downie

Published in print: 2013-07-01

This book presents a reassessment of Aelius Aristides’ Hieroi Logoi, a unique first-person narrative from the ancient world. While scholars have embraced the Logoi as a rich source for Imperial-era religion, politics and elite culture, the style of the text has presented a persistent stumbling block to literary analysis. Setting this dream-memoir of illness and divine healing in the context of Aristides’ professional concerns as an orator, this book investigates the text’s rhetorical aims and literary aspirations. The book begins from the proposition that understanding the Hieroi Logoi requires grappling with Aristides’ deliberate conjunction of rhetoric and the sacred, and five chapters offer new perspectives on unresolved questions, including the problem of the text’s artistic unity, the unique texture of Aristides’ dream descriptions, the professional claims of his curative performances, and the place of the Hieroi Logoi amid his literary concerns. Reading the Logoi in the context of contemporary oratorical practices, in dialogue with contemporary technical writings on the interpretation of dreams, and in tandem with Aristides’ own polemical orations and prose hymns makes it possible to discern his professional agenda in this unusual, experimental self-portrait. In this multi-layered and open text, the book argues, Aristides works at the limits of rhetorical convention to fashion an authorial voice that is transparent to the divine. In the HL, Aristides claims a place in the world of the Second Sophistic on his own terms, offering a vision of his professional inspiration in a style that pushes the limits of literary convention.

Among the most important, but frequently neglected, figures in the history of debates over skepticism is Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE). His early dialogue, Against the Academics, together with ...
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Among the most important, but frequently neglected, figures in the history of debates over skepticism is Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE). His early dialogue, Against the Academics, together with substantial material from his other writings, constitutes a sustained attempt to respond to the tradition of skepticism with which he was familiar. This was the tradition of Academic skepticism, which had its home in Plato's Academy and was transmitted to the Roman world through the writings of Cicero (106–43 BCE). This book is the first comprehensive treatment of Augustine's critique of Academic skepticism. The book presents that critique as a serious work of philosophy and engages with it precisely as such. While the book provides an extensive review of Academic skepticism and Augustine's encounter with it, its primary concern is to articulate and evaluate Augustine's strategy to discredit Academic skepticism as a philosophical practice and vindicate the possibility of knowledge against the Academic denial of that possibility. In doing so, considerable light is shed on Augustine's views on philosophical inquiry and the acquisition of knowledge.Less

Augustine and Academic Skepticism : A Philosophical Study

Blake D. Dutton

Published in print: 2016-02-25

Among the most important, but frequently neglected, figures in the history of debates over skepticism is Augustine of Hippo (354–430 CE). His early dialogue, Against the Academics, together with substantial material from his other writings, constitutes a sustained attempt to respond to the tradition of skepticism with which he was familiar. This was the tradition of Academic skepticism, which had its home in Plato's Academy and was transmitted to the Roman world through the writings of Cicero (106–43 BCE). This book is the first comprehensive treatment of Augustine's critique of Academic skepticism. The book presents that critique as a serious work of philosophy and engages with it precisely as such. While the book provides an extensive review of Academic skepticism and Augustine's encounter with it, its primary concern is to articulate and evaluate Augustine's strategy to discredit Academic skepticism as a philosophical practice and vindicate the possibility of knowledge against the Academic denial of that possibility. In doing so, considerable light is shed on Augustine's views on philosophical inquiry and the acquisition of knowledge.

This short book sets the Confessions of Augustine in the social and intellectual context of late antiquity in the late fourth and early fifth centuries. Part 1 explores the world in which Augustine ...
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This short book sets the Confessions of Augustine in the social and intellectual context of late antiquity in the late fourth and early fifth centuries. Part 1 explores the world in which Augustine lived, where Roman control of western Europe was under threat from non-Roman peoples, and Roman literary and philosophical culture was challenged by educated Christians expounding their scriptures. This chapter discusses the choices Augustine made in his education in literature and rhetoric, in his career as a teacher of rhetoric and then as a bishop, and in his search for understanding of himself and of God. Part 2 considers the interpretation of a life, by the person who lives it and by people who accept or challenge that person's account. It discusses literary questions of style, models and audience, and philosophical questions of what matters in a human life, in comparison with some classical and some later examples of writing about oneself. This chapter argues that Augustine knew how differently texts can be interpreted, but that he cannot be used to support theories that there is no canon of texts and no authoritative reading. He believed that classical literature may offer some wisdom, but canonical scripture is authoritative; that interpretations may differ, but must accord with the Christian principles of love of God and neighbour; and that there is an authoritative reading of every life, known to God though not to us.Less

Augustine: The Confessions

Gillian Clark

Published in print: 2009-06-15

This short book sets the Confessions of Augustine in the social and intellectual context of late antiquity in the late fourth and early fifth centuries. Part 1 explores the world in which Augustine lived, where Roman control of western Europe was under threat from non-Roman peoples, and Roman literary and philosophical culture was challenged by educated Christians expounding their scriptures. This chapter discusses the choices Augustine made in his education in literature and rhetoric, in his career as a teacher of rhetoric and then as a bishop, and in his search for understanding of himself and of God. Part 2 considers the interpretation of a life, by the person who lives it and by people who accept or challenge that person's account. It discusses literary questions of style, models and audience, and philosophical questions of what matters in a human life, in comparison with some classical and some later examples of writing about oneself. This chapter argues that Augustine knew how differently texts can be interpreted, but that he cannot be used to support theories that there is no canon of texts and no authoritative reading. He believed that classical literature may offer some wisdom, but canonical scripture is authoritative; that interpretations may differ, but must accord with the Christian principles of love of God and neighbour; and that there is an authoritative reading of every life, known to God though not to us.

What significance does the voice or projected persona in which a text is written have for our understanding of the meaning of that text? This volume explores the persona of the author in antiquity, ...
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What significance does the voice or projected persona in which a text is written have for our understanding of the meaning of that text? This volume explores the persona of the author in antiquity, from Homer to late antiquity, taking into account both Latin and Greek authors from a range of disciplines. It contains chapters on pseudepigraphy and fictional letters, as well as the use of texts as authoritative in philosophical schools, and the ancient ascription of authorship to works of art. The thirteen essays are divided into two main sections, the first of which focusses on the diverse forms of writing adopted by various ancient authors, and the different ways these forms were used to present and project an authorial voice. The second part of the volume considers questions regarding authority and ascription in relation to the authorial voice. In particular, the volume looks at how later readers—and authors of later texts—may understand the authority of a text's author or supposed author.Less

The Author's Voice in Classical and Late Antiquity

Published in print: 2013-10-03

What significance does the voice or projected persona in which a text is written have for our understanding of the meaning of that text? This volume explores the persona of the author in antiquity, from Homer to late antiquity, taking into account both Latin and Greek authors from a range of disciplines. It contains chapters on pseudepigraphy and fictional letters, as well as the use of texts as authoritative in philosophical schools, and the ancient ascription of authorship to works of art. The thirteen essays are divided into two main sections, the first of which focusses on the diverse forms of writing adopted by various ancient authors, and the different ways these forms were used to present and project an authorial voice. The second part of the volume considers questions regarding authority and ascription in relation to the authorial voice. In particular, the volume looks at how later readers—and authors of later texts—may understand the authority of a text's author or supposed author.

This book has two aims. The first is to determine how the ancient Greeks conceived of beauty—a matter that is not uncontroversial, since some scholars have denied that there existed an autonomous ...
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This book has two aims. The first is to determine how the ancient Greeks conceived of beauty—a matter that is not uncontroversial, since some scholars have denied that there existed an autonomous concept of beauty in classical Greece. This question is addressed by an investigation of Greek terminology, singling out in particular, and for the first time, the significance of the noun kállos, as opposed to the adjective kalós. On this basis, the book addresses the role of beauty in sexual attraction, class, art, Platonic idealism, and other areas, and offers a comparison between Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms for beauty. The book’s second aim is to identify problems that have beset modern aesthetics, such as whether a work of art can be beautiful if its subject matter is not, and to indicate why these difficulties did not pose a problem for the ancient idea of beauty. In the process, the book shows how beauty lost its preeminent place as the central concept in modern aesthetics, and how the ancient conception may contribute to restoring beauty, if not to its former preeminence, at least to a auxiliary role in our understanding of desire and of art.Less

Beauty : The Fortunes of an Ancient Greek Idea

David Konstan

Published in print: 2015-01-02

This book has two aims. The first is to determine how the ancient Greeks conceived of beauty—a matter that is not uncontroversial, since some scholars have denied that there existed an autonomous concept of beauty in classical Greece. This question is addressed by an investigation of Greek terminology, singling out in particular, and for the first time, the significance of the noun kállos, as opposed to the adjective kalós. On this basis, the book addresses the role of beauty in sexual attraction, class, art, Platonic idealism, and other areas, and offers a comparison between Greek, Hebrew, and Latin terms for beauty. The book’s second aim is to identify problems that have beset modern aesthetics, such as whether a work of art can be beautiful if its subject matter is not, and to indicate why these difficulties did not pose a problem for the ancient idea of beauty. In the process, the book shows how beauty lost its preeminent place as the central concept in modern aesthetics, and how the ancient conception may contribute to restoring beauty, if not to its former preeminence, at least to a auxiliary role in our understanding of desire and of art.

This book explores the provenance of the so-called Berkeley Herm of Plato, a sculptural portrait that the author first encountered over thirty years ago in a university storage basement. The head, ...
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This book explores the provenance of the so-called Berkeley Herm of Plato, a sculptural portrait that the author first encountered over thirty years ago in a university storage basement. The head, languishing since its arrival in 1902, had become detached from the body, or herm, and had been labeled a fake. In 2002, while preparing another book, the author—now an experienced archaeologist—needed an illustration of Plato, remembered this piece, and took another look. The marble, he recognized immediately, was from the Greek islands, the inscription appeared ancient, and the ribbons visible on the head were typical of those in Greek athletic scenes. This book tells the story of how the author was able to authenticate this long-dismissed treasure. His conclusion, that it is an ancient Roman copy possibly dating from the time of Hadrian, is further supported by art conservation scientist John Twilley, whose essay appears as an appendix in this book. The author's discovery makes a significant contribution to the worlds of art history, philosophy, archaeology, and sports history and will serve as a starting point for new research in the back rooms of museums.Less

The Berkeley Plato : From Neglected Relic to Ancient Treasure, An Archaeological Detective Story

Stephen Miller

Published in print: 2009-04-11

This book explores the provenance of the so-called Berkeley Herm of Plato, a sculptural portrait that the author first encountered over thirty years ago in a university storage basement. The head, languishing since its arrival in 1902, had become detached from the body, or herm, and had been labeled a fake. In 2002, while preparing another book, the author—now an experienced archaeologist—needed an illustration of Plato, remembered this piece, and took another look. The marble, he recognized immediately, was from the Greek islands, the inscription appeared ancient, and the ribbons visible on the head were typical of those in Greek athletic scenes. This book tells the story of how the author was able to authenticate this long-dismissed treasure. His conclusion, that it is an ancient Roman copy possibly dating from the time of Hadrian, is further supported by art conservation scientist John Twilley, whose essay appears as an appendix in this book. The author's discovery makes a significant contribution to the worlds of art history, philosophy, archaeology, and sports history and will serve as a starting point for new research in the back rooms of museums.